ABSTRACT To augment the impact of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) research on cancer screening, detection, diagnosis, prevention and treatment in its catchment area and throughout the world, the SKCCC leadership, with the support of expert internal and external advisers, has created a new five-year Strategic Plan. The Plan has been accepted and approved by the Dean of the Medical Faculty/CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, President of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System and the Dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The SKCCC Director garners advice on Program planning, resource allocation, identification of new opportunities and launching of new initiatives from several key internal committees, including the: 1) Executive Oversight Committee (EOC), 2) Program Leaders Council, 3) Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee, 4) Safety Monitoring Committee, 5) Laboratory Shared Resources Committee and 6) Clinical Research Operations Committee. The governance of the SKCCC functions with two major values: 1) maximizing the impact of SKCCC resources (people, space and funds) to achieve research goals and 2) creating an efficient, effective, responsive and collegial environment that promotes and fosters collaborative team science. An External Advisory Board (EAB) is composed of national leaders representing major areas of cancer research, administration and advocacy from pre-eminent institutions across the U.S. Over this grant period, the EAB played a critical role in the evaluation of Scientific Programs and the re-engineering of the Programmatic structure at the SKCCC. EAB members have also generously provided individual consultations on their specific areas of expertise. Moving forward, the EAB will critically monitor the output and effectiveness of SKCCC Programs, cores and leadership.